Coming Back for the Olympics

Sorry about my absence. I have not blogged for several months now. I have some good reasons, but mostly, it is procrastination. Also, blogs, for me, take heaps of time and energy. Sometimes, I think there is no reward in this. I am not a gymnast. I merely sit on my computer chair and spout opinions that may have little basis. I fear that I have nothing to add to the multitude of excellent blogs out there

But my blog has been viewed over 6000 times, so that cannot be true.

So I think I will give this blog another whirl, especially since the Olympics are coming up.

Leading up to these Olympics, you will see more opinion pieces and commentary, but I am also keen on getting some data analysis going. You see, in the real world, I am a bit of a data geek. In the gymnastics world, data called scores are produced and I am keen to play with this data and see whether it teaches us anything.

When one does data analysis, a very important thing is asking the right questions. These are a few that I am interested in. Leave a comment if you think of any more:

• Do all around competitors get advantaged or disadvantaged when they excel at one piece over another? (I am especially interested in floor and uneven bars on the women's side)
• Are there "country biases" in scoring?
• How easy is it to predict winners by difficulty scores?

I am sure there are more though!

Overall, I am curious about what the next few months will bring. 

The age debate - my take

Hi all

I am very sorry about my absence. I have been working about 45 hours a week and studying 20+ which leaves me little time for blogging. On top of that, the hard drive of my faithful yellow laptop is goners. So I did not have the means to blog either. I could use my partner's computer, but I could never be on it long...

I have been inspired by Gymnastics Coaching regarding the age limit in gymnastics and what should be done with it. I am torn. I would like to protect gymnasts from the worst aspects of the sport, yet I can see merit in the argument that a rule that cannot be enforced is useless.

Protection of young gymnasts, especially the ones from totalitarian countries, appeals to me. Stories about the Karolyis, and many other accusations have flown around over the years. This is not all sour grapes by failed gymnasts. Olga Korbut made accusations of rape about her own coach, even though she had a very successful career. But let's not pretend that coaches are unique in being able to abuse and exploit children. Some parents do that as well.

The pressure of competing on a large world stage is massive whatever your age is. Well, I think. Truth is, I don't know. I have never competed on the world stage.

My take is that gymnastics training, like any training can be positive or negative. When I learned ballet, I had a teacher who screamed at her students, belittled them and generally played power games with them. I remember her telling us that we would be in big trouble if we made mistakes during performances. I was scared to go to ballet. I gave up ballet. My singing teacher gave constant praise as well as constructive criticism, and worked to the personalities of each student in terms of teaching performing. I would always go off stage thinking of what I had done wrong (which my teachers would often fail to spot), and what I could work on. She would build me up. My friend was the opposite, and so my teacher had very different ways of motivating her. I sang for several years.

I am guessing that it is the same with gymnastics. I think that mentally, doing high level sports or other hobbies can be a positive or negative experience depending on how it is done. Kids who are competing in high level competition need support wrapped around them. They need to know that their self worth is not dependent on their results. How does that get policed? - well, parents are the first line of defence. If a kid is unhappy, most parents will withdraw them from gymnastics or that particular coach. The second line of defence needs to be the sport itself. If a coach is harming their athletes, they should not be coaching, because they are giving the sport a bad name. Many of the worst potential coaches may be prevented from coaching by criminal and reference checks. Thirdly, the police may sometimes need to get involved when serious harm is done.

I can see that the risks of young people being involved in high level sports is high, but if it is done properly, I do not think it is a reason in itself to stop young people from competing at a high level. I think that being older, athletes in a worse position since they would understand the long-term consequences of falling off the equipment, but they would have the skills to deal better with competition, and they would have had time to develop mental toughness, and experience that may enable them to do better in competition.

But maybe I am the wrong person to be making assumptions about young people performing at a high level. What do gymnasts who have competed in the Olympics at 13 or 14 have to say? What was positive? What was negative? I think we need to hear some of their opinions.

One question that I do want to ask is whether any of the skills that gymnasts do are harmful when they are introduced too early. I was inspired by Katrina bringing up the example of a ballerina dancing Swan Lake at age 8. She was dancing en pointe, which is dangerous for foot growth when training begins before age 12 according to the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. I wonder if many skills that gymnasts do fit into this category, or even a category of slightly higher risk when skills are introduced to early.

I am aware of assertions that older gymnasts are more likely to get injured - but how can you prove that this is solely about age? Is this about age or the body saying "enough is enough" after years of doing the same movements? Is it simply the case that some gymnasts are doing movements that they should not do to increase start values? Is it bad training methods? Again, I am not sure. I am asking these questions, but I should not be the person answering them, because I do not feel qualified.

I hear the pragmatic "cannot be enforced so why do it" argument, and to some extent, I agree with it. But I do think that the issue is much more complicated than that. One thing is for sure. I want older gymnasts to stay on the scene, because they add a lot to the sport. I do not want another 'pixie only' era in gymnastics.

Gymnastics Therapy: Part one

Some of you may have heard that my country has been hit by a massive disaster. Everyone I know knows someone from Christchurch, or someone who knows someone who was or is trapped in those buildings. There are over 100 dead already and that number is expected to rise.

My sister lives in Christchurch. Thankfully, she was in the part which was not hit badly. Now, she is back with my parents. The aftershocks were keeping her nerves on edge, so she is glad to be back home. My friend's father was one of the people rescued in this article. I was standing under the cathedral waiting for my sister last year. Now bodies are being recovered from it and its surrounds. Luck, bad or good, determined who died. I have had very good luck. Not everyone has. New Zealand is a small country. Right now, all of us are wondering around thinking that we are in a bad dream.

On one level, thinking about gymnastics seems very silly. People are dead. Gymnastics news does not seem like important news at all.

On another level, I need access to gymnastics videos now more than ever. They take me into another place - a place of beauty and amazing feats.

Now I will share my favourite videos. I planned to do this in another post, but what the hell, now seems like the best moment. I need comfort.

Part two tomorrow.

I will be back to my analystical self soon. I have several posts half completed, but right now, it is hard to write.

I hope that my readers and their people are ok.

To help quake sufferers, you may want to read the media articles I linked, which have places to send donations.

Random Mutterings and Music Suggestions

A few months ago, I got very excited. The reason why?

I had a follower. It was Rick Charles, a guy who runs Gymnastics Coaching, one of the web's biggest Gym blogs.

Today, I got even more excited because he mentioned me on his website!

And I now have another follower. And a comment.

I had a look at my stats and realised that Full Twist has also told people about my website. Full Twist, which is also, just randomly, another regularly visited site, was talking about looking for music.

I have always intended to post a blog on music that I think would be perfect for gymnastics. When I watch lots of gymnastics, I always seem to imagine the music I listen to with gymnastics moves. How this would work on a practical level, I am not sure, but these are just a few ideas. Full Twist was talking about looking for music, and since they have kindly told others about my blog, this is my attempt to do a favour in return.

1. Theme and Variations by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lloyd Webber is an amazing composer, and there are plenty of themes to play with here. I have heard the first one used as floor music ( with a change to the beat, which I was not sure about). There are better versions than this one, but this was the only one on Youtube.

2. Precipice is a part of the soundtrack to Battlestar Galactica, which has an intense and awesome theme. I can imagine it being used by a 'power gymnast.' Someone like Becca Bross could do this with intensity and make the intensity seem like part of the choreo.

3. I loved Riverdance when it came out. I still like it quite a lot. Dominique Moceanu (Slip into Spring) used this music in 1999, and Raducan used Reel Around the Sun. There are many other tunes, all composed by Bill Wheelan. Not all of them are Irish. This is one of my favourite tunes. I think that an energetic, happy gymnast could pull this off.

4. Jean Butler and Colin Dunne, who used to star in Riverdance, tried to market this show. It did not quite work out, but some awesome music came out of it. This is an attempt to marry Irish dancing and tango, which some hate and some love. The music is intriguing. Someone like Hollie Vise would do this tune justice.

Just a few ideas. I am not sure how well they will work, but I thought I would put them out there. There will be more of these blogs. I like lots of different types of music.

I am back...

Well, it has been an interesting few months with summer holidays, seeing family that I have not seen for ten years and I spent lots of time on the beach. Body surfing involved a number of somersaults and twists. The trick with it is to go with the direction of the surf rather than against, and then you can do skills that would never be possible in reality, at least for me.

But anyway, from now I on, I will attempt to write at least one blog every week.

Now I have a twitter... @Gymadmirer so I can be followed.

A very overdue take on the last year of gymnastics will come soon.